Is Moderation on Illegal Immigration Impossible?

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Is Moderation on Illegal Immigration Impossible?
Seek a middle-of-the-road answer to a polarizing issue.
Long before the May arrest of KSU student Jessica Colotl, the debate regarding illegal immigrants in Cobb County was heated. The perpetual media coverage of the issue has made the immigration debate more than just another hot topic: At this juncture, it's a polarizing issue in Kennesaw, perhaps second only to abortion.
The opponents and proponents of immigration reform are so diametrically opposed that it seems as if a middle ground is all but impossible. The illegal immigration debate has been boiled down to a fairly (and I would say, overly) simplified game of yea or nay. One is either in favor of open borders, or one is in favor of American isolationism.
The above is a clear example of a false dichotomy. Certainly, there are a number of in-between options, but it seems as if the pro-amnesty and anti-amnesty crowds are intent on making the subject as contentious as possible.
Reaching a resolution on illegal immigration depends on a number of factors, first and foremost the recognition of the ineptly slow bureaucratic nature of government agencies and the economic and social repercussions of undocumented immigrants.
It isn't until anti-amnesty proponents address the nation's naturalization process as decisively inadequate and inefficient that the matter can truly be addressed as a social issue. Likewise, it isn't until pro-amnesty proponents address the negative financial and civil implications of mass illegal immigration that the argument can be taken as serious political discussion.
Both sides offer some fairly indisputable reasons for their beliefs. Amnesty proponents bring up the notion that America was founded as a nation of immigrants (a very large number arrived in the United States sans formal documents), and as such, it is hypocritical to persecute modern-day unauthorized immigrants when an overwhelming plurality of the nation descended from illegal aliens.
The heftiest argument in favor of amnesty proponents rests in the reality of the American bureaucracy. Because of the immigration backlog, the path to citizenship often takes upward of a decade for even top-priority immigrants, such as international Ph.D.s.
A 2009 report by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service states that more than 4.5 million applicants were awaiting green cards in the United States. In that same year, the United States cleared only 600,000 immigrants for legal residency status.
A number of officials, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, believe that the nation's inability to reach green card quotas is a primary factor in the number of illegal immigrants in the United States. Without question, the nation's bureaucratic ineffectiveness cannot be overstated when discussing the root of the illegal immigrant problem.
Of course, this doesn't exclude the price tag of unauthorized immigration from being a concern for citizens of the United States. A 2010 report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform states that illegal immigration costs, in total, approximately $113 billion per year. According to FAIR, around $84 billion of that cost is shared by state and local agencies, and approximately $52 billion a year is being spent on public education of either illegal aliens or the children of unauthorized immigrants.
In addition to the economic ramifications of unauthorized immigration, there is the aspect of correlated crime that must be addressed if a "compromise" on the issue is ever reached. In 2003, ex-Pennsylvania District Attorney Association President John M. Morganelli stated that approximately one quarter of the country's federal prison population consisted of illegal aliens. In 2009, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration listed "Mexican poly-drug organizations" as the largest "foreign threat" to the state of Georgia.
For a true "solution" to the nation's immigration woes to be uncovered, all of those factors must be taken into consideration and addressed as factual problems. "Total amnesty" is an open invitation for further social disarray, just as much as "total deportation" is an unjust penalization for those who are simply lost in the bureaucratic backlog.
Somewhere between the extremities of total amnesty and total isolationism, there is a moderate stance to be found on the illegal immigration issue. Ultimately, that's the same stance that provides an answer palatable for both sides of the argument.
http://kennesaw.patch.com/articles/i...ion-impossible

These are the comments to this opinion.

Comments (5)
steve
7:00am on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Our Government, has allowed the invasion of 30 million criminals in direct violation of Article IV, Section IV of our Constitution. they force American tax payers to pay Billions to provide Welfare, Prison cells, Educate the invaders children, free medical care,massive document fraud, & are destroying our schools, hospitals, communities, culture while Robbing, Raping, Killing & Assaulting American Citizens WAKE UP PEOPLE!
.youtube.com/watch?v=tsH8xvjTAlo
.youtube.com/watch?v=Btj6IeOFkis&feature=player_embedded
immigrationcounters.com/
.ojjpac.org/memorial.asp
.immigrationshumancost.org/
.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty580.htm
.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ
.gopetition.com/petition/40860.html
Every Non-representative including obama and holder need to be IMPEACHED! for not upholding the oath of office they swore to defend the Constitution! If these clowns were to do their job, this would all be a Moot point!
Deport all illegal’s, now, all 30 million of them. Anchor babies and their criminal parents go, period, and cut the phony tears, you knew you were breaking the law when you crossed the border.
Next shut down any business hiring illegal labor and confiscate all property belonging to the owner. Property will be sold at auction and the proceeds to pay for the massive deportation. Oh and owners go to jail.
Got a better idea? Lets here it!
Maya Ying
9:14am on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
If you like to pay more and more taxes, perhaps you will be in favor of the Dream Act. The economic consequences of illegal immigration are high. Federation for American Immigration Reform published a report of the cost of illegal immigration - about $113 billion annually. Broken down, the direct cost to the federal government is about $29 billion while the states pick up the other $84 billion. Broken down further each household of citizens who pay taxes foots a bill of approximately $1,117. The largest expense is educating their children -some $52 billion. Of course, the states with the highest number of illegals pay the most to feed, educate, house, doctor, and jail them. The 11 states that give illegals in-state tuition benefits for college spend $244 million annually on that alone.
When our children were in college, one wanted to attend college in another country. Because of the cost that did not happen. Did we expect the other country to subsidize his education? No, of course not. It was not the duty of taxpayers in that country to provide any benefits for our son.
Maya Ying
9:15am on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Last week, the University of Virginia released a 3-yr study of Virginia’s Prince William County’s immigration enforcement ordinance which concluded that the ordinance had helped reduce the county’s illegal alien population by 2,000 to 6,000 over the course of two years. During the same time period, hit-and-run accidents in the county went down by nearly half and aggravated assaults dropped by 47 percent. In addition, the study showed that the ordinance helped reduce serious problems of overcrowding in housing in certain areas of the county. Finally, the study also found that there was “no evidence of overzealous or inappropriate immigration enforcement actions by police.” While the study suggested that the ordinance disrupted some police-community relationships, it found that these quickly returned.
d t paulson
12:15pm on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The authors approach to moderation is to simply let almost unlimited legal immigration occur.
Few issues:
1. We already take in more legal immigrants then the rest of the world - combined. We allow far more then even during those times when we had open immigration.
2. We are running out of natural resources. Unless he knows where vast new good water, natural gas, oil, food and mineral supplies are we must have reasonable limits.
3. Most of our population growth is due to immigration. We are at 310 million now. Just 50 years ago we had half that much. At our present rate we will hit 600 million before the end of this century. By that time we will be rationing everything.
4. Even if we take in 20 million a year it will have no effect on the overpopulation the third world is forcing upon this planet.
5. Just because someone wants to come here or has managed to get here is no reason to let them be here legally. I would guess about 2-3 billion of the worlds 4 billion living in abject poverty would come if they could.
Bottom line is we must have limits. Immigration is ONLY about how it can benefit citizens and this country now and in the future. If the future shows us facing shortages of infrastructure like roads, hospitals, schools, water supplies, energy supplies then maybe we need to rethink immigration entirely. After all just because we have done something for a while doesn't mean it needs to continue or that it is good for us.
Francis
12:50pm on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
These are all enticements for illegal immigrants to come here, if this Dream Act passes?
Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muw22wTePqQ / on the U-tube website and then you will comprehend the seriousness of this mass immigration and the imminent predicament for this country in overpopulation. Titled, "Immigration by numbers--off the charts" and learn what our previous or current government has kept silent about. The out-of-control population explosion has severe implication on your taxes and this country’s infrastructure.
The invasion hasn't stopped and never will until we cut of all welfare entitlements? Learn more facts and not the rhetoric at NumbersUSA.
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